And "building" is the right word. Like Beate Bosch, McDonald Heard is as much a material artisan as he is a draftsman or conceptualist. No stage of a Heard project progresses without McDonald first wading in with an old hammer, mallet, torch, or saw. He prefers to grab hold of his work, to touch the soul of his home’s innermost fibers. Heard likes the marrow. Even among old schoolers, he’s the old man… yet he’s only fifty-five!

McDonald Heard Architects construct living homes all over the world. They are based in unlikely locales like Kampala in Uganda, Irkutsk in Siberia, Cuzco in Peru, and Carrick in Ireland, but their clients find them nonetheless. In fact, they would probably hunt them down. Heard and company build very unique and "moving" residences, especially waterborne houses and mobile homes. McDonald’s clan is fond of portable art.

Portability, recyclability, and self-sufficiency are hallmarks of McDonald Heard Architects. Heard Homes are self-contained environments. They have shells—which MHA always call "hulls"—and roofs, but all the other parts are joined with detachable fastenings. You can always take part of a Heard home for a spin. And while they incorporate all of the most modern features and appliances, they are modest in size and operate within a sparing scheme that wastes virtually nothing. A river-based home will draw its energy from the sky and the movement of the water, just as one by the beach taps the tides, or a road-based unit captures the wind (even while in transit).

Naturally, Heard AIs are restless souls. They’re the vagabonds of sentient residency. Some are reclamation projects, AIs originally designed and then abandoned by other sentient property makers. Many Heard clients trade them from time to time, particularly in cases where the structure has become rooted for a time. This way they avoid outright abandonment; for the main trouble with McDonald’s work is that some of his AIs simply flee the household, hitching rides with visiting ships or amphicopters or simply disappearing into the ether of the untamed com-net. On the up side, though, they are undoubtedly the most interesting AIs you’ll encounter in a home. Worldly and experienced, they put a wholly different spin on the idea of household companion.

McDonald Heard Architect's business is organized around three programs. First, they build houseboats, everything from modest "shotguns" to floating mansions. Second, they create "road homes," mobile homes and chambers of every variety that can be combined to form rambling palaces. Third, they create biodegradable or recyclable "disposable" homes. Not surprisingly, much of their income comes from military and industrial contracts.